Over 1500 Students Attend 4th Edition of SAP Techniversity

SAP has announced that SAP Techniversity Bangalore, the annual premier SAP technology, education, and training conference created expressly for students is being hosted at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre on the 12^th of March. This year, 1500 student attendees will experience how SAP drives innovation to the digital enterprise and how they can make a difference.

The event kicks off with the launch of the SAP Student MeetUp program, a new initiative in which SAP is opening its offices and innovation centers as hubs for university students to explore and engage with SAP leaders and SAP’s latest technologies.

“SAP Student MeetUp is an initiative run by students for students, bringing together students and experts to explore solutions including SAP HANA in a fun and engaging environment at SAP offices and innovation centers,” said Ann Rosenberg, Vice President and Global Head of University Alliances. “We are passionate about early talent and their potential to contribute to and extend the SAP innovation story. Students will get to know us better and see SAP as a leader driving the future of the digital enterprise.”

SAP is an enabler for organizations to deliver unprecedented speed, insight, and innovation in business. Students and professors will learn how they can help shape the Future of Work empowered by SAP.  This is the fourth series of SAP Techniversity which started in 2012, in which over 12,000 students from across India have experienced and been inspired by the latest SAP technologies.

Optimization Summit 2015 Focus on Turning Big Data Analytics into Action ​​

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Since the mid-20th century, companies have been applying analytics to help them make better strategic decisions - for example, creating an optimal global supply chain network design, calculating inventory levels and determining profitable pricing policies. However, most companies struggle to turn this plethora of data into successful action in the marketplace.

While organizations have deep insights into every part of their global supply chains today, seldom are these insights used as the basis for everyday decision making. To help executives understand and address the obstacles to effectively leverage their company's data and analytics capabilities, JDA Software has scheduled a unique thought leadership summit ‘Optsum’ on March 10 and 11 in Bangalore, India.

This is the 2^nd edition of the Optimisation Summit (Optsum) that will be held in Bangalore from March 10-11, 2015. The first day will focus on keynote sessions from industry and academia and will see over 50 companies attend the event. Optsum 2015 will bring together key decision makers, influencers and thought leaders in big data analytics and optimization to focus on the theme, "Bridging Planning and Execution." 

“Optsum is a by-invitation only event where the best minds from industry and academia discuss the tools and techniques to help organisations advance their supply chain maturity and gain significant value through best-in class-optimisation and analytic modelling practices,” said Narasimha Kamath, Director of Product Management at JDA Software.  “It is also a think tank to discuss challenges, learn industry best practices and understand the direction of investment to leverage maximum ROI and quantify the benefits of cutting edge technologies.”

"Innovations in big data analytics, machine learning and optimization science are opening up new possibilities to transform the supply chain discipline," said Razat Gaurav, Executive Vice President of Industries and Solution Strategy at JDA Software.  "The Optimisation Summit is an opportunity for leading minds from around the world to gather, exchange ideas and advance the state-of-the-art of these pursuits.  We look forward to facilitating these discussions and seeing the ideas and innovations take shape." 

New Cloud Adoption Program for SMBs in India

Microsoft has rolled out a new cloud adoption program for small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India.  SMBs can now adopt value-added solutions and offerings supporting their specific requirements on the cloud through Microsoft ‘Cloud Solution Providers (CSP)’.  Cloud Solution Providers are partners who build solutions leveraging Microsoft cloud for SMBs across the country on a pay-as-you-go model.

This program enables SMBs to work with a CSP of their choice for various IT requirements. The CSP will own the complete customer life cycle, provide direct billing, offer combined and customized solutions, directly provision, as well as manage and support Microsoft cloud offerings for their customers.

The program will enhance value to SMBs and expand business opportunities for them and the CSPs.  It will allow CSPs to own the complete customer relationship – starting with understanding customer requirements, designing customized solutions and offers with Office 365, easy billing and support. SMBs will benefit from the subscription-based payment model that will ease their OpEx pressures. 

Karan Bajwa, Managing Director, Microsoft India, said, “Cloud adoption in India is growing in triple digit percentage year-on-year.  The new Microsoft Cloud Solution Providers will make SMBs more competitive with enterprise-grade technology and value-added services from Microsoft cloud.”

“Our partners in India work closely with SMBs and understand their specific requirements and challenges. Microsoft Cloud Solution Providers will make it easier for SMBs to adopt the cloud in a manner relevant, financially viable and most beneficial for their business”, said Meetul Patel, General Manager, SMS&P, Microsoft India.

Microsoft has launched the program with seven CSPs in India - GlobalOutlook, ZNetLive, Trimax IT Infrastructure and Services Limited, Sify Technologies, Emkor, Opto Telelinks Limited and XcellHost Cloud Services. Details of the service offerings currently available from these CSPs is appended.  This number is expected to grow over time with more partners becoming Cloud Solution Providers.

Satish Prasad Rath Named Chief for Xerox Healthcare Research Centre

 

Xerox has announced the appointment of Satish Prasad Rath, M.D., as Chief Innovation Manager for Healthcare Research, Xerox Innovation Group. He is based at the Xerox Research Centre India (XRCI), in Bangalore.   

Rath joins Xerox from Wipro Technologies where he was distinguished member of technical staff at the CTO office, overseeing healthcare research activities for the company’s point of care solutions and mobile health.

“Healthcare has been an important area of research for Xerox,” said Monica Beltrametti, chief services research officer at Xerox. “Dr. Rath’s background in healthcare consumer-facing technology will help strengthen our research and develop innovative solutions that improve people’s lives through better, more accessible and more affordable healthcare.”

At Wipro Technologies, Rath was responsible for research and development on solutions-based platforms mobile health, wearables, and other innovations in healthcare with a consumer centric approach. Prior to that, Rath was heading Intel’s Health Systems Research Group and a Sr. Research Scientist for Philips Research.

“This indeed is a great opportunity,” said Rath. “As we move towards better patient engagement and experience, my primary responsibility will be to help the Xerox Innovation Group expand research in consumer-centric healthcare and develop solutions that will simplify healthcare processes worldwide.”

Recently, Xerox invested in HealthSpot, Inc., a pioneer in patient- and provider-driven healthcare technology. The investment enables groundbreaking telehealth to be delivered to patients in convenient locations such as pharmacies or offices – offering patients convenient, timely access to doctors, specialists and prescriptions, nationwide.

Additionally, Xerox Research Centre India hired 10 aspiring scientists from the Indian Institutes of Technology for their “Budding Scientist” program – a two-year term position aimed at exposing a new generation of scientists to some of today’s challenging research problems and encouraging them to pursue a career in research.

New Patient Philips Monitors Now at Affordable Costs

Philips India has announced the launch of Efficia CM Series patient monitors in Bangalore, India, designed to provide clinicians with access to high-quality of care, despite budget limitations.  The monitors join Philips Efficia ECG100, an electrocardiogram (ECG) acquisition device, and Efficia DFM100, a defibrillator/monitor, both part of the Efficia portfolio, providing cost effective products for resource-limited - facilities. The solutions highlight the Philips commitment to enhance access and enable quality care across the health continuum – from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment, recovery and home care, including in remote areas.

“Philips has pioneered the area of Critical Care solutions spanning decades.The quality and ruggedness has undoubtedly been the best in the industry”, said Sameer Garde- President, Philips Healthcare South Asia.

“The new platform is a high class, performance driven quality patient monitor and most importantly affordable. Customers will love the ease of use, simple user interface and low cost of maintenance” added Srikanth Muthya- Director, Patient Care and Monitoring Solutions, Philips Healthcare.

Making quality care affordable
Effective patient monitoring can help improve diagnosis and provide earlier intervention, which is not only critical for improving patient outcomes, but can also help hospitals improve operational efficiencies. The Efficia CM Series patient monitors provides the same physiological measurements and algorithms that are present in the Philips patient monitors that you know, but designed to be more cost-effective and scalable to the needs of budget-constrained health care facilities. The series, including Efficia CM10, Efficia CM12, Efficia CM100, Efficia CM120, Efficia CM150, can be customized for a variety of patient types, acuity level sand clinical settings, and comes with an intuitive user-interface to ease the burden on busy clinician workflow.

Providing remote yet timely intervention
Diagnosis in the early stages of cardiac-related illness can help slow the progression of disease, improve patient care and reduce healthcare costs. The Efficia ECG100acquisition device is a cost-effective cardiograph that measures and displays12-channel ECGs in both inpatient and outpatient settings.The portable product seamlessly functions with application-enabled Android smart phones and tablets, even without WiFi, allowing ECG technicians to quickly and remotely consult with off-site cardiologists and general practitioners.It also allows clinicians to access past ECGs, and email ECG reports to specialists. The device comes with the ability to store high-resolution PDFs, which can be printed on regular A4 paper, instead of the more costly thermal paper. The ability to share and analyze up-to-the-minute medical information with a specialist allows for earlier intervention, and expands access to care for patients in resource-constrained healthcare settings.

Providing critical care where it is needed most
To deliver quality care, clinicians need to make quick, informed decisions when responding to an emergency and caring for a patient across the entire course of treatment. The Efficia DFM100 defibrillator/monitor is designed to be easy to use for both basic and advanced life support care providers to meet the demands of patient care in pre-hospital and hospital environments effectively and consistently. Efficia DFM100 provides functionalities needed to enhance patient care, regardless of where they are located. It is also scalable to ensure affordability across all care settings.

Entries Open for Microsoft's YouthSpark Challenge for Change 2015

Microsoft India announced call for entries for its annual YouthSpark Challenge for Change, a global competition that encourages young people to consider how they can use Microsoft technology and YouthSpark resources to create positive social change in their communities.

Lowering the age limit for the first time to below 18, this  online contest is inviting entries from Indian youth aged 13-25 years to share their ideas for sparking change in their communities, schools, college campuses, or the world. In its third year now, Challenge for Change is a part of Microsoft YouthSpark, which is Microsoft's commitment to empower young people through technology and provide opportunities in education, employment, and entrepreneurship.

Submissions to Microsoft YouthSpark Challenge for Change will be accepted online, until March 25, 2015. There are two age divisions: 13-17 years, and 18-25 years. Thirty global finalists - 15 in each division, will receive a Surface Pro 3 with Office 365. Finalists will submit videos detailing their ideas, which will be shared for public voting. Ten grand prize winners, five in each division and selected by a public vote, will win $2,500 to help make their ideas a reality, a Windows Phone and the opportunity to go on an amazing service trip to Nicaragua to learn about creating change. Public voting will take place from May 7-14, and winners will be announced on May 27, 2015.

Last year, five YouthSpark Challenge for Change Grand Prize Winners sparked change in their communities and beyond and went on to the Amazon jungles for a volunteer trip. Among the 5 winners was 23 year old, Sathya Subramanian from Mangalore who’s project Digital Literacy Program earned him a spot among the top 5 winner globally.

Speaking on this win, Sathya Subramanian, Winner, Microsoft YouthSpark Challenge for Change Contest 2014, said, “I basically want to create an impact within the community of underprivileged or people who are beyond the reach of technology, and teach them to use computers, and give them access to the Internet and make sure they make the best use of it. In India, an average of somewhere around 70 percent of the people do have a cell phone, they do have a smart phone, they use it, but the thing is, they don't know how to use it for their betterment like education or self-improvement, or to get something out of it just apart from a phone call or listening to music. So that's the thing which we are trying to impart.”

VMware'a Evorail Enables Faster Software-Defined Data Centre for Indian Market

VMware, Inc. a global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today announced the availability of VMware EVO:RAIL for the Indian market through its Qualified EVO:RAIL Partners. VMware EVO:RAIL is a hyper-converged infrastructure appliance that helps IT organizations streamline the deployment and scale-out of software-defined IT infrastructure at the speed of business.

Dell, EMC and HP today also announced the availability of their VMware EVO:RAIL based offerings for India. Fujitsu, Hitachi Data Systems and NetApp have also partnered with VMware for EVO:RAIL and will make their respective appliances available over time. VMware EVO:RAIL will be offered by these partners’ channel as a single SKU covering hardware, software, and support and services costs, with single point-of-contact support being offered by the Qualified EVO:RAIL Partners.

IT organizations today are being challenged to provide services faster than ever while reducing the complexity and costs of their environments. VMware EVO:RAIL will dramatically simplify the delivery of software-defined infrastructure services while lowering operating expenses. Featuring a pre-integrated and pre-tested 100 percent VMware software stack, VMware EVO:RAIL will enable IT to produce virtual machines within minutes of powering on the appliance, thereby responding faster to business demands, simplifying infrastructure administration and reducing operating costs.

As organizations migrate from inefficient legacy systems, the complexities associated with building virtual infrastructure is fueling a 33 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the integrated systems market, which IDC estimates will grow from $5.4 billion in 2013 to $14.3 billion by 2017. Hyper-converged systems are the next phase of the converged infrastructure evolution, aimed to help midsize businesses that require flexible, open architecture to simplify IT operations and transform the speed and efficiency of application service delivery.

“VMware and its Qualified EVO:RAIL Partners are bringing the simplicity of consumer appliances to the world of enterprise infrastructure. VMware EVO:RAIL is a new building block for software-defined data center environments that takes the guesswork out of building, deploying, scaling and managing software-defined infrastructure services,” said Arun Parameswaran, managing director, VMware India. “Our customers and partners in India have been very excited about the immediate value VMware EVO:RAIL offers them,” he added.